General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Smooth, reflective black synthetic blades fastened to unfinished wood hub; unfinished wood frame; black synthetic post and belt; silver metal components (some painted white); white moulded synthetic gear.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

105.0 cm

Width

59.0 cm

Height

110.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Energy-electric

Category

Miscellaneous

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Northern Wind

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Toronto

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

Entry in the 2010 WindEng competition.

Canada

Winning entry in WindEng 2010, a wind turbine design competition run by the University of Guelph. The competition is run annually by the Department of Engineering and Design of the University of Guelph. In 2010, 36 teams from Ontario competed. The teams had to submit an entry video introducing themselves and their school; they presented their final design to a panel of judges, which included wind energy engineers, entrepreneurs, and UofG professors. All turbines were tested in a wind tunnel at UofG. 5 teams with the highest overall score participated in the final test in the wind tunnel. The turbine that produced the most energy won. The turbine was designed and produced by students from the Northern Secondary School, with a minimum of supervision from their physics teacher, Gillian Evans. The team won $2,000.

Function

Small-scale 3-D replica of machine designed to produce electricity from wind.

Technical

The idea of competition has a long tradition in the history of energy. For example, the first AC generator was designed by Tesla and Westinghouse in response to a competition run by the International Niagara Commission. In 2010 WindEng, the teams were not allowed to use a three blade turbine design to boost their creativity. They were also not allowed to use metal to prevent any damage to the wind tunnel (several entries fell apart in testing). All materials had to be recycled, not purchased for the project. Motors were supplied by the UofG. The turbine was built at the school shop. After testing several designs, the students decided to go with an 8-blade design. Nose and the "nacelle" areas were left open for easy access, and maintenance and repair. This would allow the students to quickly correct any problems. Teams that took longer than 3 minutes to place the turbine in the tunnel and do any necessary adjustments would loose 10 points/minute. In the first round the turbine sustained energy production for one minute with an average output of 0.707 watts and in the winning round it sustained 0.743 watt over 60 sec. The final output was considerably lower than energy produced by the turbine that led in the first round: (Up in the Air) 0.788 watts. The Up in the Air team adjusted their turbine between the two rounds and lubricated it. In the final test, the turbine did not turn, and the Northern Wind team took first place.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

"MAYSET", "A27/ (4L290)", "B9D" and "THREE FIVE" printed on belt. "ONTARIO CANADA/ CO." cast in raised print on large pulley wheel.

Missing

Appears complete.

Finish

Smooth, reflective black synthetic blades fastened to unfinished wood hub; unfinished wood frame; black synthetic post and belt; silver metal components (some painted white); white moulded synthetic gear.

Decoration

N/A